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Scotland friendly investigated

Scotland's friendly against Nigeria on Wednesday night is set to go ahead under a cloud of suspicion with the match understood to be under investigation by the police for match-fixing.

Craven Cottage will host Wednesday's friendly

The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday that the National Crime Agency, which investigates serious and organised crime, asked FIFA to issue an alert over attempts to fix the game at Craven Cottage.

It is understood none of the Scotland players are involved while Nigeria manager Stephen Keshi also distanced his squad from the allegations.

A Scottish FA spokesman told Press Association Sport: "We are liaising with the relevant authorities and will prepare for the match as normal."

Keshi told Sky Sports News: "We're not part of this. We don't know anything about this. We're here to play."

Stoke City and Nigeria striker Peter Odemwingie added on Sky News: "This is the first time I'm hearing it. I'm with the players every minute, every day, we don't hear of this."

The match is a home fixture for Nigeria, who are finalising their preparations ahead of the World Cup in Brazil which starts on June 12.

Scotland failed to qualify for the World Cup and this is the team's last scheduled game before they begin their qualification campaign in September for the European Championships in 2016.

The NCA has also been investigating allegations of spot-fixing, where specific events in a match are rigged, in English football after reports published by The Sun On Sunday in December.

An NCA spokesman refused to comment on the match-fixing allegations, saying: "The NCA will from time to time provide operational detail necessary for public reassurance purposes.

"It does not routinely confirm or deny the existence of specific operations or provide ongoing commentary on operational activity."

A spokesman for bookmaker Coral said: "In the context of football betting, turnover on international friendlies is minimal. We are not aware of any unusual betting patterns on this match, and that has been reflected across the industry.

"However we are not complacent about it. We do know that where there is integrity concern over football matches, betting tends to take place far from British shores."

A William Hill spokesman said later: "We've seen no evidence of the reported issues and we wouldn't expect to. This sort of activity will be executed in the illegal betting market, and is unlikely to be seen in the UK or European regulated sector."